Community

The Los Altos-Los Altos Hills Joint Community Volunteer Service Awards Committee invites local organizations to nominate volunteers for the 2013 awards.

Nominees must be individuals or organizations whose volunteer service benefited the communities of Los Altos and/or Los Altos Hills. The nomination form must be completed and accompanied by a minimum of two letters of recommendation from individuals or groups. The deadline for nominations is Nov. 13.

The committee will select awardees from those nominated and by mid-November notify those who submitted nominations if their nominee is selected to receive an award.

The committee is scheduled to honor the winners Dec. 13 at a luncheon at Fremont Hills Country Club in Los Altos Hills.

Since the awards’ inception in 1983, the committee has recognized 295 individual volunteers and nine organizations.

“It is widely known that we are always on the watch to recognize people for both the quality and the tenure of their contributions, and that we are especially vigilant for recognizing our unsung heroes,” said Roger Burnell, vice chairman and longtime member of the committee. “But what is lesser known is that these people tend to be notably humble, in part because they have discovered something that lies at the essence of all such community volunteering: The inarguable and timeless mantra that volunteer service, when one is true to one’s own heart, is a reward in itself.”